You and your military spouse have been married for more than 10 years. You might have resolved that you would keep your marriage strong, no matter how many times they were deployed in other countries — but that just didn’t happen.
Now, the communication between the two of you is strained to the point where you cannot see any way of returning to your old, loving relationship. You sought a divorce. Once your divorce was inevitable, your thoughts turned to child support. Getting answers from your spouse has been difficult — they say they have no idea how it would happen.
Going through a divorce is hard enough — getting child support should not be
Your decision to ask your spouse for a divorce was the hardest you have ever made. It has been several years since you have held down a job. How will you support your children? Who will get custody? Because your spouse leaves the states for military obligations, they may not be able to keep your children except for visitation.
When you begin to think about child support, your mind may feel like it has hit a rock wall — what do you have to do to complete this process? Your first step is to request an order from the court that will tell your spouse how much they must pay in support. Once that is done, you can take the next step.
Requesting child support from Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS)
You can contact DFAS to begin the process of receiving child support once you have a court order. Your spouse’s military commitment means you first contact the child support enforcement agency to get an Income Withholding Order. Send this form to DFAS, along with your return address. You will need your spouse’s Social Security Number, their full name, a return phone number and a return Fax number.
Getting through a military divorce and all that entails can be difficult because there always seems to be extra steps involved along the way — but it’s much easier when you have an experienced guide.